My Daughter Has a Flu During Covid-19

Friday: Day 2

So just as we were coping with my kids’ cancelled band trip to Ireland, my daughter started feeling unwell. A few days earlier, she’d gone for a walk with a friend who’d recently recovered from a flu. Also, she was home because her high school had just recently closed for the day. A staff member had tested positive for Covid-19. While the staff member wasn’t named, my daughter suspected it might have been her teacher, who’d been out sick since the previous Thursday, the same number of days the staff member had been out.

Exposure Can Be Anywhere

So right there, she had two close contacts with people who may have had corona virus. Her friend hadn’t been tested because tests were unattainable at the time. At first, I didn’t worry too much about her feeling sick. She often is the first in our family to catch a cold and often has sinus stuffiness. But when she mentioned she’d had the chills the previous day and asked if I thought she had a fever, a bell rang in my head. Could the corona virus really be in our family? All five of us had felt fine these last few weeks.

I got the thermometer and we checked. Her temperature was 100.5.

We took the temp three times since we hadn’t used the family thermometer for a while. It came up 100.4 and 100.5. In a reassuring mom voice (even though inside I felt worried), I encouraged her to go upstairs and try to sleep. She hadn’t slept well during the last two nights. She’d been upset about her band trip being cancelled. We’d have to just make sure she rested and ate well, I told her.

For Young People, It Can Be a Case of the Common Flu

While I didn’t immediately panic, I did go straight to my laptop and check the fever temperature for Covid-19. It’s 100.5 to 102. (And I’m sure, higher.) She was right at the low end. And she’s young. Kids recover from COVID-19 fairly quickly. I was confident that my child would be fine but I didn’t want her to pass on the virus to anyone more at risk. Her dad and I are middle-aged Gen Xers. We’re in good health, but we, as well as the kids, could become carriers. Needless to say, I immediately cleaned all of the doorknobs and counters with bleachy cleaner (no more natural stuff now) and urged my daughter to wash her hands often.

How Do You Know?

Ultimately, we didn’t even know if she had Covid-19. She could have caught some other more regular flu. All five of us get flu shots every year and, outside of a rare cold, are seldom ill. So how would I know if there’s any need to take extra precautions? I didn’t. I was relying on her body to simply fight off whatever was going on inside.

That night, she didn’t sleep well — again. The next morning, her fever rose and her condition worsened. I’ll right about that worrisome day in my next post.

Photo by Photo by Jonathan Borba on Unsplash

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If you’d like more information on the Covid-19 illness, visit the Washington State Department of Health page here.

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